The Justice Department has reportedly launched a criminal investigation into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for possibly lying to Congress about his handling of the COVID-19 crisis in state nursing homes. The inquiry is focused on whether Cuomo misled a congressional subcommittee when he asserted he did not recall being involved in altering a July 2020 report that blamed nursing home deaths on staff rather than his directives, as per a New York Times report.
Closely watched as Cuomo is a dominant figure in the Democratic mayoral primary, this investigation adds to the controversy of an already complicated political scenario. Legal scholars have had sharply differing opinions about whether Cuomo's actions were legally culpable or not. In an email to Gothamist, Barbara McQuade, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and former federal prosecutor, expressed skepticism, saying "It is hard to see how his characterization of pandemic deaths could satisfy the statute."
In contrast, two other former federal prosecutors suggested the case could hold water, emphasizing the potential influence of Cuomo’s statements on the subcommittee’s work. "I think they will be able to get over the hurdle that this is a material fact. It's not something minor," John Fishwick, a former federal prosecutor, told Gothamist. Meanwhile, the politics entangled in this legal web are evident as Cuomo leads in the mayoral race polls, where if victorious, he would presumably compete against the current mayor Eric Adams, who recently saw federal corruption charges against him dismissed — a move that critics have called politically motivated, as per Gothamist.
The developments underscore the criticisms surrounding the use of the Justice Department as a tool for political ends under the Trump administration. Cuomo's spokesperson Rich Azzopardi described the investigation's timing and the leaks as "lawfare and election interference plain and simple," as obtained by The New York Times. Azzopardi also defended the ex-governor's record, saying, "Mr. Cuomo testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the subcommittee — but from the beginning this was all transparently political."
The question remains whether the investigation will to seriously disrupt Cuomo’s chances in the upcoming June primary. It also puts a fresh spotlight on the Justice Department's intrusion into the political arena, with the recent ethics review faced by former U.S. attorney Ed Martin and the appointment of Jeanine Pirro—a known critic of Cuomo—as the new head of the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, further complicating the matter. This is not to mention the agency's history during Trump's term of initiating probes into other Democrats and states led by the party, as the New York Times report details.
